1974] 
Rovner & Knost — W rapping of Prey 
403 
for the spinnerets in lycosids as in other spiders that wrap prey. 
When the anterior spinnerets were sealed, no attachment disks were 
produced. The prey was wrapped but not fixed to the substratum. 
The same was true when the anterior and median spinnerets were 
sealed. When the median and posterior spinnerets were sealed, 
attachment disks were fixed to the substratum and dragline laid 
around the prey, but no swathing silk. In this case wrapping was 
not effective. Multiple prey were not tied together; indeed, the prey 
items were often pushed apart by the legs of the pivoting spider. 
As the result of normal wrapping behavior, silk was placed around 
the bodies of the prey animals and attached to the substratum at 
intervals. Although the pivoting spider had pulled the threads taut, 
the silk was not dense enough to produce a very tightly wrapped 
package, as is produced by orb-weavers, for example. Indeed the 
wrapping was so sparse that it would be unnoticed by the casual 
observer. Nevertheless, the prey group did form a more compact 
mass than it had prior to wrapping. When the spider resumed feed- 
ing, it lifted the prey away from the substratum a. short distance 
(rather than lean down to feed) ; however, the lines running to the 
substratum generally remained intact due to their elasticity. 
After prey-wrapping, the spider sometimes groomed its chelicerae 
and palps, while remaining directly above the prey, and then resumed 
feeding. Additional prey that approached within reach were often 
captured; and one or more bouts of wrapping followed. However, 
regardless of whether further captures were made after the first bout 
of wrapping, subsequent bouts on the previously wrapped prey 
occurred later in the observation period in many cases. 
Table II. Number of Lycosa rabida making single vs. multiple captures 
when offered multiple prey during a 30-min period (second figure) and the 
number of those captures in which wrapping occurred (first figure). Twelve 
spiders of each sex were tested on each type of prey. 
Males Females 
Prey 
Single 
capture 
Multiple 
capture 
Single 
capture 
Multiple 
capture 
Isopods 
— / 0 
— /o 
1/ 4 
— / 0 
Beetles 
0 / 1 
— /O' 
2/ 6 
— / 0 
Mealworms 
0/ 9 
— /o 
1/ 3 
8/ 9 
Grasshoppers 
2/ 7 
2/2 
1/ 1 
11/11 
Crickets 
0/ 4 
2/3 
— / 0 
12/12 
Totals 
2/21 
4/5 
5/14 
31/32 
